SAN FRANCISCO — Tim Lincecum’s no-hitter last weekend at San Diego provided a rare first-half highlight for the stumbling San Francisco Giants. The coaching staff received a short reprieve from all the problems facing the club as the National League All-Star staff in New York.

Now, the defending World Series champions must get back to work in a hurry if they want to hang around in an NL West that is still wide open. The first-place Arizona Diamondbacks are in town for a three-game series starting Friday night to kick off the second half.

At 50-45, Arizona leads the fourth-place Giants (43-51) by 6 1/2 games — so this series will be important for both clubs. Arizona will look to separate, while San Francisco hopes to gain ground in a tight division. The Giants are struggling in every phase, with a daunting August schedule on the horizon.

“This is the team that’s won two out of the last three World Series. They’re still the king of the hill in this division,” D-backs infielder Cliff Pennington said. “You start here after the All-Star break kind of refreshed and ready to go. To play a good team right off the bat is what you want. Every division series is big. They’re the top dog in this division. You’ve got to knock them off the hill. Just being ahead of them after the first half doesn’t knock the team that won the World Series two out of the last three years out of it.”

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Still, San Francisco has lost 14 of its last 20 games and is desperately seeking some momentum. Not to mention some good fortune.

While center fielder Angel Pagan hit an inside-the-park home run May 25, he hasn’t played since and had surgery on his left hamstring that will sideline him perhaps for the rest of the year. That’s a tough blow for the Giants after Pagan re-signed during the offseason for $40 million over four years.

The Giants hope to get right-hander Ryan Vogelsong back sometime next month after he heads out on a rehab assignment, perhaps soon. The 2011 All-Star broke two bones in his right pinkie area and also dislocated a knuckle in the hand on a swing May 20 and underwent surgery the next day.

Vogelsong’s return would be a boost to a rotation that, aside from All-Star lefty Madison Bumgarner, has been far from steady. Lincecum, the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner, tossed a 148-pitch gem against the Padres last Saturday at Petco Park for his first career no-hitter.

If that provides a positive entering the second half, manager Bruce Bochy will take it. He’ll take just about any advantage right now.

Yet plenty of teams would like nothing more than to take down the franchise that has won two of the past three World Series championships.

Arizona manager Kirk Gibson, for one. He is thinking big in mid-July, like October big.

“I don’t want a vacation. I want a short offseason,” he said, referring to a long postseason run. “That goes without saying.”